


Skies Are Blue

by littledust



Category: Bomb Girls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-07 09:38:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1118351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littledust/pseuds/littledust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Run away from what scares you. That's the Kate Andrews story. (But it doesn't have to be.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skies Are Blue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SVZ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SVZ/gifts).



> Written as a commission for the lovely Stacy/ofunicorndust. Thanks to metonymy for looking this over!

"She'll say yes if you ask her."

Kate fumbles with her cleaning rag, then attacks the counter with new vigor. There's no excuse for slacking, even if Mrs. Corbett never seems to mind the other girls chatting a bit when there are no customers to serve. "I've changed my mind about open mic night," Kate says after the tiny spot of dried milk, the result of an overenthusiastic latte pass, is gone. "I won't need Vera to cover my shift after all."

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Gladys says, hands going to her hips and red lips pursing. She looks just like her mother when she does that, though no one would ever dare tell her. Certainly not Kate.

Before Gladys can share whatever ridiculous fancy is on her mind, the doorbell in the back rings. "Must be Marco with the coffee beans," Kate says, all but running away from the counter. "I'll be in the back helping him unload! Vera's break is over in five minutes!"

Run away from what scares you. That's the Kate Andrews story.

*

There's only one time Kate's run from something without feeling ashamed, and that was a matter of survival. She and her mother didn't wait out her father's sentence before they moved towns and changed names. She left Marion behind and grew up into Kate Andrews, the girl who sang so beautifully that all her music teachers encouraged her to study music in university. Going to university meant spending money, though, so that meant a part-time job.

_That cafe with the funny name and all the Italian pastries is hiring,_ her mother told her just months ago. _Why don't you see if they'll take you on?_

Everything happened fast after that: Kate walking to the Factory in her best dress, Mrs. Corbett interviewing her with a handful of shrewd questions, Kate filling out the paperwork for her new job. _Betty will train you,_ Mrs. Corbett said. _She's worked for me for a long time and she trains all the new employees._

Kate showed up for her first shift the next day, took one look at Betty, and all her illusions of safety fell away.

*

The thing is, Betty is nice. She's prickly, for certain, but she's nice to people who do their work and treat others well. Kate tries to do both, and it isn't long before Betty is telling her jokes behind the counter and stepping in to help with difficult customers. When Betty finds out that Kate doesn't really drink coffee, though she likes the smell just fine, she makes it her mission to help Kate find at least five new favorite flavors of tea. _Why stick to one kind when you could try all this stuff for free?_

The other girls are nice, too, of course. When Kate is feeling down, they always seem to know whether she needs gentle teasing or a hand on her shoulder. They gossip with her about customers and teach her makeup tricks she'll never use. Gladys hears Kate singing as she washes dishes one day and comes up with the idea for the open mic night. Vera seconds the idea, and not just for the opportunity to tell jokes onstage. They're like sisters.

Betty's nothing like a sister at all. Sisters don't make your stomach flip when they smile, and they don't have red, red lips you want to kiss.

*

"Are you mad at me?"

Betty's staring at Kate, her face so sweet and her eyes so sad. It's a look that she never wears, and tears swim in Kate's eyes. She did this. She's doing this right now.

"I'm not mad at you. Here you go, cappuccino with extra foam." Kate pushes the cappuccino across the counter with a smile, then lets it fade as she turns back to Betty. It's easy to not smile around her anymore; hurting a friend hurts her heart, too. "I'm just busy with school. Practice makes perfect."

"All this practice, and we never hear you sing anymore!" Vera interrupts, hopping behind the counter even though her shift doesn't start for another half an hour. She pats Betty's hand. "Why don't you go home early? You look beat."

"If this is about Teresa, it was just a fling--"

Now Vera's tone is firm, though no less kind. "Go home, Bets."

Betty throws off her apron like she always does after a frustrating lunch rush, though today was nice and quiet. Vera says nothing to Kate, not even when Betty leaves a few minutes later, messenger bag slung over her slumped shoulders. Silent treatment from Vera Burr says it all, really.

Kate keeps her cool as long as she can, but the instant Reggie shows up to take over for her, she buries herself in the back and cries. It isn't right to be jealous, not when she never had the girl in the first place.

*

Kate should quit. The words keep leaping to her lips and then jumping straight back down her throat, scared witless. She needs this job. It's money in her pocket, even if she drives all her friends away.

"I'm not sure I can do the open mic night," Kate says to Mrs. Corbett one night at closing time. It's just the two of them, Kate sweeping the floor as Mrs. Corbett boxes up leftover pastries to donate. She's a good woman, Mrs. Corbett. Everyone in here is so good.

Mrs. Corbett nods. Her hands never falter as she ties up the pastry boxes. "I'm sure it will be plenty successful anyway," she says after a few minutes. "Quite a shame that we'll miss hearing you sing. The girls weren't the only ones looking forward to it."

"Oh." Kate flushes. "I hate to let you down, Mrs. Corbett. If I need to, I can--"

"No, no, you don't need to do anything." Mrs. Corbett gives her a soft look, one that makes Kate think of her own mother. "That was me trying to tell you that I love the sound of your voice. I put it in a silly way."

That last bit of kindness cracks Kate's heart in half. As soon as the tears start, Mrs. Corbett folds Kate in her arms.

"If you just talk to the girls, they'll understand," Mrs. Corbett says, rubbing her back. "You see if they don't."

*

Kate practices telling Betty why she's so afraid in the mirror. She can see her own eyes well up with tears every time she says _my father_. But then a whole day passes after her conversation with Mrs. Corbett, then more days, until it's been a whole week.

"I should quit," Kate tells her mother over dinner, when her mother asks why Kate's been so quiet and sad.

"Quit where, the Factory?" her mother asks. "Is this about that open mic night? Tomorrow, right? I'm sure there's still time to sign back up again."

"It's one of the girls working there," Kate says, staring down at her plate. Her mother makes wonderful meatloaf, so why does looking at it make her stomach churn? "She's a… lesbian." Just saying the word makes her shiver.

Her mother's fork makes an audible _clink_ as she sets it down on her plate. Kate flinches, her gaze trained on the meatloaf.

"And this bothers you?" The lack of anger in her mother's voice allows Kate to look up, shrugging her shoulders as she does. Her mother nods once, biting her lower lip in thought. After a long pause, she says, "We both know that your father was wrong about a great many things. You used to talk about your friends at the coffee shop with such affection. I'd like to see you that happy again."

Tears roll down Kate's cheeks. Will she ever stop crying? "Even if I--I might--?"

Her mother doesn't come over to hug her the same way Mrs. Corbett does. In this little family, they move slowly, gently, so no one gets startled or scared. Her mother's arms slip around her all the same, and her mother is crying, too. "I would never turn my back on you," she says. "Not if God Himself demanded it."

*

It takes two phone calls, one to her teacher Leon and one to Mrs. Corbett, for Kate to get back on the list for open mic night. Her mother helps Kate do her hair, and Kate puts on a little makeup, mixing and matching the tricks Vera and Gladys taught her. Her knees shake all the way to the Factory, but at least she has her mother and Leon by her side. The girls clap their hands with glee when they see her, all except Betty, who turns her face away.

Kate tries to listen to the few acts on before her, but even Vera's jokes don't take. This is such a foolhardy plan! But it's too late to back out, since Marco's just announced her and Leon is already positioning himself behind the keyboard.

_It's singing,_ Kate tells herself as she steps onto the small stage. _You know how to sing._

"My name is Kate Andrews, and tonight I'll be performing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,'" she says, and lets the music take her away.

Kate looks at Betty when she sings _that's where you'll find me_ and, oh, Betty is looking back, that sweet look on her face again. Kate finishes her song and the room explodes into applause, but she has eyes for Betty and Betty alone, Betty who puts two fingers in her mouth and whistles as loud as she can.

*

There are so many people congratulating Kate that she can't seem to get to Betty until Mrs. Corbett says, "Betty, why don't you show Kate our new espresso machine? I think it's in the back."

Betty shoots Mrs. Corbett a puzzled look, but takes Kate's hand and pulls her through the crowd. Kate's whole body tingles, and for once, it doesn't make her afraid.

"I think there _is_ no espresso machine here," Kate laughs as soon as they're safe in the back. Betty tries to drop her hand, but Kate clings to Betty. "Please don't! I'm sorry about all the confusion. I was just… I was scared."

And there's the look again, the one that maybe only Kate gets to see. "It can be scary, falling for another girl," Betty says, her voice rough. "I don't want to scare you. I'll go as slow as you want, wait as long as you want, I'll anything you want--"

Kate cuts her off with a kiss. It's just a simple brush of the lips, because that's all she can do right now. Betty's lips are warm and soft despite the early winter chill.

"That's what I want," Kate says with a smile.


End file.
